Languages and General Studies

The goal of this course is to enable intermediate learners of English to understand and speak English more accurately, confidently, and fluently. Each seven-week online course has asynchronous (self-paced) and synchronous (scheduled) components. The purpose of the weekly online meetings is to engage in interactive conversations and practice the skills that students develop during the week independently. The instructor will facilitate theme-based conversations among the students in a weekly Zoom session, which students prepare for through textbook and online exercises (Summit 1, English for Today's World and MyEnglishLab web site). Weekly discussion boards will provide an opportunity to engage with peers, using the vocabulary and conversation strategies presented in each unit. This course is fast-paced and requires a significant time commitment and a self-motivated attitude. Students complete one unit each week, learning new vocabulary and idioms in the context of theme-based oral exercises, conversation models, pair-work activities, and listening texts. In addition, students learn strategies to improve accents, rhythm, intonation, and stress patterns. Students deliver oral presentations and share them with their classmates through the course web site and weekly meetings on Zoom.

This is a two-part course. Registration is required separately for each part of the course.

The goal of this course is to enable intermediate learners of English to understand and speak English more accurately, confidently, and fluently. Each seven-week online course has asynchronous (self-paced) and synchronous (scheduled) components. The purpose of the weekly online meetings is to engage in interactive conversations and practice the skills that students develop during the week independently. The instructor will facilitate theme-based conversations among the students in a weekly Zoom session, which students prepare for through textbook and online exercises (Summit 1, English for Today's World and MyEnglishLab web site). Weekly discussion boards will provide an opportunity to engage with peers, using the vocabulary and conversation strategies presented in each unit. This course is fast-paced and requires a significant time commitment and a self-motivated attitude. Students complete one unit each week, learning new vocabulary and idioms in the context of theme-based oral exercises, conversation models, pair-work activities, and listening texts. In addition, students learn strategies to improve accents, rhythm, intonation, and stress patterns. Students deliver oral presentations and share them with their classmates through the course web site and weekly meetings on Zoom.

This is a two-part course. Registration is required separately for each part of the course.

The goal of this course is to enable high intermediate learners of English to understand and speak English more accurately, confidently, and fluently. Each seven-week online course has asynchronous components through the Canvas web site (weekly assignments/due dates) and synchronous components (scheduled Zoom meetings.) The purpose of the weekly online meetings is to engage in interactive conversations and practice the skills that students develop during the week independently. The instructor will facilitate theme-based conversations among the students in a weekly Zoom session, which students prepare for through textbook and online exercises (Summit 2, 3rd Edition and MyEnglishLab web site). Weekly discussion boards will provide an opportunity to engage with peers, using the vocabulary and conversation strategies presented in each unit. This course is fast-paced and requires a significant time commitment and a self-motivated attitude. Students complete one unit each week, learning new vocabulary and idioms in the context of theme-based oral exercises, conversation models, pair-work activities, and listening texts. In addition, students learn strategies to improve accents, rhythm, intonation, and stress patterns. Students deliver oral presentations and share them with their classmates through the course web site and weekly meetings on Zoom.

The goal of this course is to enable high intermediate learners of English to understand and speak English more accurately, confidently, and fluently. Each seven-week online course asynchronous components through the Canvas web site (weekly assignments/due dates) and synchronous components (scheduled Zoom meetings.) The purpose of the weekly online meetings is to engage in interactive conversations and practice the skills that students develop during the week independently. The instructor will facilitate theme-based conversations among the students in a weekly Zoom session, which students prepare for through textbook and online exercises (Summit 2, Third Edition and MyEnglishLab web site). Weekly discussion boards will provide an opportunity to engage with peers, using the vocabulary and conversation strategies presented in each unit. This course is fast-paced and requires a significant time commitment and a self-motivated attitude. Students complete one unit each week, learning new vocabulary and idioms in the context of theme-based oral exercises, conversation models, pair-work activities, and listening texts. In addition, students learn strategies to improve accents, rhythm, intonation, and stress patterns. Students deliver oral presentations and share them with their classmates through the course web site and weekly meetings on Zoom. This is a two-part course. Registration is required separately for each part of the course.

The goal of this course is to enable advanced learners of English to understand and speak English more accurately, confidently and fluently. New vocabulary, idioms and expressions will be incorporated in TED Talks and articles about current innovative ideas. Students will complete self-paced textbook exercises and participate in guided conversation at weekly meetings. Students will practice listening for details and summarizing issues that require critical analysis and deep thinking. Interesting discussions and debates will be developed and facilitated. Students will give oral presentations on VoiceThread, participate in online discussion boards and submit weekly written assignments. Completion of Intermediate Conversation II or the permission of the instructor is required for this class.

This course helps students develop basic writing skills by practicing writing paragraphs and essays. Students learn to write organized, supported and coherent paragraphs using grammatically correct sentences. This course will place emphasis on both macro-level composition skills such as: paragraph and essay structure, coherence and unity; and micro-level skills such as sentence structure, grammar, vocabulary, and mechanics. Students will analyze and address the typical trouble spots in these areas.

This course is for non-native and native English language speakers who need to improve their foundation in academic English writing. Students will choose a final project based on their particular goals.

This course will begin to develop students’ written communication skills, which will benefit their career and professional goals within the NIH community and beyond. This course is a first step in acquiring the writing skills needed to develop an effective cover letter or research statement.

Researchers from all over the world use English as the common language to share their findings with colleagues and debate current issues. This course is designed for biomedical researchers and others at the NIH and beyond who are intermediate and advanced students of English and who wish to improve their listening and speaking skills in the scientific workplace and/or in other academic settings, such as at conferences or symposia. The course is designed so that students will have the opportunity to work toward their individual goals, which they will communicate to the instructor at the beginning of the course.

The overall goal of this course is to achieve better results from your writing and speaking by considering the interests and experience of your audience. This is not a course on writing for scientific journals. Rather, we will focus on making scientific language more understandable to the broader scientific community and the general public. In this course, we will examine ways to communicate complex ideas in terms that are appropriate and engaging for the intended audience. This course is designed for native or non-native speakers of English who are interested in improving the effectiveness of their written and spoken communication.

The goal of this course is to achieve better results from our writing. In this course, we will examine ways to communicate complex ideas in terms that are appropriate for the intended audience. This course is designed for native or non-native speakers of English who are interested in improving the effectiveness of their writing. 

American Sign Language (ASL) is a visual-gestural language that possesses all of the properties of a natural language. It is rule governed and has a rich history. This introductory-level course is designed to provide students with a way to communicate and function comfortably in a variety of situations in the Deaf community. Through visual-gestural activities, guided practice, presentations, and practical assignments, students will explore the language, education, and culture of the American Deaf community.

American Sign Language (ASL) is a visual-gestural language that possesses all of the properties of a natural language. It is rule governed and has a rich history. This introductory-level course is designed to provide students with a way to communicate and function comfortably in a variety of situations in the Deaf community. Through visual-gestural activities, guided practice, presentations, and practical assignments, students will explore the language, education, and culture of the American Deaf community.

This review course prepares students for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT™). Students will develop a study plan for the MCAT and be presented with foundational scientific information that every future medical student should know in order to excel at the exam. The course will heavily rely on solving MCAT-style questions with the goal of promoting genuine understanding of the material, decreasing ineffective memorization, and improving students’ confidence. This course condenses MCAT-relevant material within general and organic chemistry and physics, with the main emphasis being on the Chemistry/Physics section of the MCAT. Critical Analysis and Reasoning will also be an emphasis throughout the course. Students will be expected to use MCAT review books, identify topics that are unfamiliar or difficult, and focus on those topics during the course of study. For a complete description of the MCAT exam, prerequisites, and eligibility, please visit www.aamc.org.

An MCAT test prep book set is a requirement for this course. The course is primarily structured off of the Princeton Review books, and those books can be purchased through FAES, but other book sets (Kaplan, etc.) may be used instead if you wish.

This review course prepares students for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT™). Students will develop a study plan for the MCAT and be presented with foundational scientific information that every future medical student should know in order to excel at the exam. The course will heavily rely on solving MCAT-style questions with the goal of promoting genuine understanding of the material, decreasing ineffective memorization, and improving students’ confidence. This course condenses MCAT-relevant material within biology, physics, biochemistry, psychology, and sociology, with the main emphasis being on content that will be covered within the Biology/Biochemistry and Psychology/Sociology sections of the MCAT. Critical Analysis and Reasoning passages will also be covered throughout the course. Students will be expected to use MCAT review books, identify topics that are unfamiliar or difficult, and focus on those topics during the course of study. For a complete description of the MCAT exam, prerequisites, and eligibility, please visit www.aamc.org.

An MCAT test prep book set is a requirement for this course. The course is primarily structured off of the Princeton Review books, and those books can be purchased through FAES, but other book sets (Kaplan, etc.) may be used instead if you wish.

This review course will prepare students for the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test. Initially, the focus will be on content and test-taking strategies for the Quantitative, Verbal, and Writing portions of the General Test. Numerous example problems will be conducted during class to reinforce the concepts and strategies that will be discussed by the instructor. In the final weeks, students will take full GRE exams as homework and discuss the solutions to problems. The lectures will be interactive, with student participation strongly encouraged. All homework materials will be taken from the Official GRE Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning Practice Question Books or from Official GRE Practice Tests that are provided by ETS (the makers of the test).

It has been suggested that metaphor, a mainstay of poetry, is essential to explaining scientific concepts to the general public. One example is the physicist John Ellis’s analogy of a “snowfield” to explain the Higgs Boson. Through the centuries, many poets, including scientist-poets, have pursued similar efforts. But, poetry and science also have other, deeper connections. Just as Francis Collins and Renée Fleming have explained that music is a window into brain science, so is poetry—especially poetry that contains music in the form of rhyme and meter. Through examining essays on poetry’s intersection with neurology and psychology (by Frederick Turner, Ernst Pöppel, and others), close reading of time-honored poems, and informal writing exercises, students will develop a deeper understanding of these connections and of the craft of poetry, both as an art form and as a tool to enhance all writing.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a skill that enables one to identify moods, impulses, and behaviors in order to manage them in a positive way. This seven-week course will focus on the four core competencies of emotional intelligence – self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management – in order to teach learners how to manage stress, demonstrate empathy to others, and communicate effectively while leading and making impactful change to organizations and teams.

This course covers macronutrients (carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, trace elements, accessory nutrients and various phytochemicals) from a mind/body perspective. Nutrients will be addressed in terms of ingestion, digestion, absorption, transportation, metabolism, and storage. Consideration will be also given to nutrient building blocks as well as psychological and physical reasons for and health effects of insufficiency, excess, supplementation, and interaction.

This course is ideal for anyone interested in developing and strengthening their empathetic practice during patient interaction. This course will focus on trust building as a foundational tenet of quality care, and self-awareness/self-monitoring as a means to convey empathy and compassion when communicating in a healthcare landscape.

Philosophical approaches to ethics and morality involve longstanding questions of value. What is good, what is right, and how can we determine these goods or right actions? Does ethics involve doing the right thing, having the right intent, or being the right sort of person? In each of these cases, how do we determine what exactly is the right action, state of mind, or the best way of life? Do we use reason or emotions or a combination of the two? Can we make these determinations in general, or are such decisions relative to the individual? And finally, how do ethical concerns bear on our relationships with our selves, other individuals, and members of a larger society? A pandemic is a disease occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population. Today headlines usually include the following pandemics: Covid-19, systemic and institutionalized racism, economic inequality, nationalism and religious extremism. By examining the writings of several key thinkers in the history of philosophy, we will explore different ethical theories in the context of our pandemic world.

Philosophical approaches to ethics and morality involve longstanding questions of value. What is good, what is right, and how can we determine these goods or right actions? Does ethics involve doing the right thing, having the right intent, or being the right sort of person? In each of these cases, how do we determine what exactly is the right action, state of mind, or the best way of life? Do we use reason or emotions or a combination of the two? Can we make these determinations in general, or are such decisions relative to the individual? And finally, how do ethical concerns bear on our relationships with our selves, other individuals, and members of a larger society? A pandemic is a disease occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population. Today headlines usually include the following pandemics: Covid-19, systemic and institutionalized racism, economic inequality, nationalism and religious extremism. By examining the writings of several key thinkers in the history of philosophy, we will explore different ethical theories in the context of our pandemic world.

This four-session, non-credit writing-intensive online workshop is designed for all scientists who plan to publish results of their work in scientific journals. Participants will write a draft of a research paper based on data generated from their current or previous study for publication in a peer-reviewed science journal. This workshop focuses on the organization of a scientific research paper, with an emphasis on the two most difficult sections to write, Introduction and Discussion. It will also cover designing tables and figures and writing a clear and concise abstract and cover letter for submission to a science journal. In addition, participants will learn about the publication process from a journal editor's perspective, along with how to choose the right journal for their paper as well as how to navigate peer review.

This course is designed to help health providers to improve verbal communication skills with Spanish-speaking patients. It will help health professionals to build competence in interviewing, examining, and treating patients. It includes conversation and role-play situations in the context of different common medical situations. Students will learn the names of body parts, action verbs, and useful phrases typically used in a medical setting. Spanish concepts and correct pronunciation will be also covered.

This is the first part of a two-part course. Registration is required separately for each part of the course.